The first of these women is my mother. Yes, I know, most all of us think our moms are Wonder Woman and Jaime Sommers (The Six-Million Dollar Woman) rolled up in one person. And I'm sure that you can give me multiple reasons why your mom fits the bill. Let me tell you about mine.
My mom is eighty-four years old. She raised two kids, worked a full-time job and still got dinner on the table and showed up at my choir concerts and my brother's sporting events, and then was widowed at age seventy-seven. With the exception of arthritis, she has always been in a general state of good health. I mean, how many eighty-four year old people do you know who only have two prescriptions to take each day? So, when on a routine Saturday in August 2014, she suddenly turned a pumpkin-ish yellow, I knew we had a problem. Several tests and an admission to the hospital later, we heard the words nobody wants to hear, "You have cancer." Cancer of the Pancreas to be exact. If you know anything about Pancreatic cancer, you know that the general rule is that by the time you are sick enough to be diagnosed, it's too late. (Ironically, her dad had died of pancreatic cancer. Although we had no idea then, this is now considered a possibly familial disease.) She was transferred to a larger hospital where there was specialist in this particular disease. He didn't pull any punches, told us the risks and the potential outcome. The only good news was that the tumor was small and in a place that was surgically accessible via a monstrous operation called a "Whipple." (Sounds friendly, huh? Well, it's not! Look it up.)
My brother and sister-in-law and I sent her off to surgery, praying we would get her back alive and "well." The post-op report was that the tumor was in a place that IF you were going to have this awful cancer, you would want it to be right there. The pathology report showed that only one lymph node was cancerous, which was another good sign. With the original tumor removed and only one positive lymph node, it was possible that all of the cancer had been removed. It was also possible that the cancer had already sent it's deadly cells out and that there would be a secondary diagnosis sometime soon. Fast forward three and a half years and she is still cancer-free! My hope is that she will die of natural causes before any of those ugly cells pop up somewhere.
Just over a month ago, and just to show that her status as a superhero was intact, she once again tested the waters by taking an awful fall. She whacked the back of her head hard enough to make her brain bleed. For those of you with no medical inclination, this is not a good thing. Once again, we went to our local hospital and she was quickly transferred to the same "bigger" hospital for care by a neurosurgeon. The bleeding stopped and for two days, we waited to see if she was in the clear. She came home and she spent four days trying to regain her strength. One week after the fall, mom developed a horrible headache and I loaded her up for another visit to the Emergency Room. The diagnosis this time was that there was fluid building up in her skull and that it needed the attention of the neurosurgeon again. So, off she went to have care by someone who was skilled in matters of the brain. By the next morning, said physician told us that he felt surgery was warranted because the swelling would likely end up causing a stroke or worse. Just an hour later she was having two burr holes drilled into her skull to relieve the pressure! Mind you, this is the same eight-four year old woman who is thus far beating cancer. Three days after surgery, she once again came home to recover. (And miraculously, two weeks later her CT scan showed that not only was the fluid and blood gone, except for two holes in her skull, there was no evidence that there had ever been a brain bleed!) Today she still struggles with some of the problems associated with an aged, arthritic body crashing to the ground, but her neurological status is A #1.
Woman #2 on my list is my sister-in-law. She is stronger that she will ever understand and yet she is such a gentle soul. She married my brother at age 18, barely out of high school and coming from a home with not much training on how to be a good wife and mom. But, she loved my brother and he adored her, so they made a home and started learning how to "do" marriage together. For thirty-six years they made that marriage one that wasn't always perfect, but was filled with love and laughter...and four kids!
She was a "stay-at-home mom" and also home schooled her kids, two things that send an awful lot of mothers into a hysterical panic now days. She pulled this feat off while being married to a guy who moved her multiple times, once to a far away state where she had no family to help in times of difficulty. But she stood strong and went wherever he led.
Just to make her life more interesting, in her mid twenties, she was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease which attacks muscle and can become terribly debilitating, and some times fatal. So now she has two small children and a muscle disease that would make her legs fold up under her, or suddenly mess with her vision, or one of several other fun issues that made life difficult, let alone the fact that she was trying to care for kids and keep her home intact. Thankfully, after several years of pills that helped some but not enough, she found a doctor who put her on a medicine that gave her real control over her symptoms.
In 1989, with three boys under 10, she gave birth to a beautiful little girl who as a toddler began to show signs that there was a misfire somewhere in her brain. Our sweet girl was going to be mom's lifelong partner because of something that wasn't wired quite right. She is learning disabled, and has other cognative problems that will never allow her to live independently. (So, it sounds like she is really qualifying for Wonder Woman status to me.)
But then, after raising her three boys to adulthood and sending them off to college and work; after living with a neuromuscular disease for more than 20 years; after raising a disabled child, life took a huge turn and she suddenly became a pastor's wife. My brother had worked as an manufacturing engineer for years, but with a desire to preach and pastor a church always in his heart. Off they went to a VERY small town and a VERY small church and for five years he pastored and preached and fulfilled that heartfelt desire. She learned to love their small congregation and was an exemplary pastor's wife.
Just as life seemed to be settled into one that would be their lifelong commitment, my brother heard the words "You have cancer" but his came with the addendum, "It is too late." He went through treatment that only offered possible pain management, which it really didn't give, and eight months later, my quiet, unassuming pastor's wife of a sister-in-law, was a widow. A fifty-six year old widow with a twenty-seven year old "child" and no where to go. They had sold their last home and were living in the church parsonage. She had to figure out where to go and what to do once she got there. She found the house back "home" that she and my niece are now living in and it seemed things were going to quiet down for them.
Then once again, life took an unexpected turn and because of a tragic marital breakup, my sister-in-law became a "mamaw extraordinaire" and began to help keep three of her grandchildren from coming totally unwound because of the breakup up their home. She babysits the two littlest ones, gets the oldest through first-grade homework and made sure that the house my nephew bought became a home for them all.
I tell you the story of these two dynamic women because they have one thing in common, the thing that makes their earthly superhero status possible - they both depend on the strength of God to get them through each event, each day, each moment. Both of them claim the Biblical promise that putting their faith in Jesus Christ gives them the promise of eternity in Heaven, thus assuring them that even in the most difficult trials, in the darkest days, they can garner strength from the Giver of all strength. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that without Jesus, neither of them would be able to tell you why they are where they are today. God gives the strength, they give honor and testimony to His gift.
I am so thankful to know that I am in the presence of something really special when I am with these two women. I praise God that because I too know the God of all strength, and believe in the Son he sent to save me, we will all keep on making it through the obstacles and laughing at the victories. And that one day we will live together in Heaven, free of the earthly struggles and surrounded by saints who have also fought the good fight and were super men or women to those who loved them.
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